Morning Brief: Fresh earthquake jolts Turkey-Syria, top Chinese diplomat to visit Moscow and more

Two weeks after deadly twin earthquakes devastated Turkey and Syria leaving tens of thousands dead, a fresh earthquake of 6.4 magnitude on richter scalejolted the region on February 21. At the same time, afterwartime optics from the US President Joe Biden's visit to Ukraine capital Kyiv dominated front pages worldwide, top Beijing diplomatand foreign policy adviser to the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Wang Yi, is set to visit Moscow where he is expected to meet the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, at least 17 people were killed after a bus carrying migrants from Colombia, Venezuela and Central America crashed in central Mexico.

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Another earthquake in Turkey on Monday left people scrambling to seek shelter in safer places. The 6.4-magnitude quake comes two weeks after a massive quake that killed over 47,000 people in Turkey and Syria. Another earthquake of magnitude 5.6 hit the region soon after. The new earthquake was centred near the southern Turkish city of Antakya and was also felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon. It struck at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

In stark contrast to the optics of US President Joe Biden's visit to war-torn Ukraine capital Kyiv on February 20, Wang Yi, the top Beijingdiplomat appointed Chinese leader Xi Jinping's top foreign policy adviser last month, is scheduled to visit Moscow this week. The visit concurs one year of Russia's initiation of 'special military operations' in Ukraine, which quickly amplified into a full-fledged war between the two sides.

At least 17 people were killed after a bus carrying migrants from Colombia, Venezuela and Central America crashed in central Mexico, officials from Puebla said.Interior Minister Julio Huerta told reporters that the accident occurred on Sunday afternoon on a highway after the bus with 45 passengers heading north, lost its control, Reuters reported.

As part of major overhaul of sex crime legislation, a panel of Japan's Justice Ministry proposed raising the age of consent from 13 to 16. Themove aims to criminalise the grooming of minors and will also expand the definition of rape.

The movecomes after a series of rape acquittals in 2019 that sparked an outcry.

India locked horns with Ireland in their last group stage match at the Women's T20 World Cup 2023 on Monday (February 20). After their first defeat in the tournament, versus England, India had to beat Ireland to not depend on other results and proceed to the semi-finals. In a rain-marred contest, Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. emerged on top by five runs (DLS method) and will most likely have a semi-final face-off with defending champions Australia.

New Mexico prosecutors have dropped firearm enhancement charges against actor-producer Alec Baldwin in the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021 on theRustmovie set. As per the BBC, dropped charges carry a mandatory five-year prison sentence, but Baldwin still faces two involuntary manslaughter charges and up to 18 months in prison. Prosecutors dropped the charge to avoid further legal distractions, according to a Santa Fe county district attorney spokesperson. In the October 21, 2021 incident, a bullet was fired by Baldwin on the Bonanza City, New Mexico set of the movie and hit Hutchins and writer-director Joel Souza. While Souza survived his injuries, Hutchins did not.